School lunchbox anxiety is real

Kate Save may be a dietitian, but even she knows how anxiety-ridden modern Australian parent can get when packing school lunches.

The mother-of-two says parents have a lot to consider when deciding what to put in their children's brown bags and lunch boxes.

It's called "nutritional anxiety", and Save says it's particularly difficult at this time of the year when the weather begins to warm up, affecting the types of foods parents can pack for their children.

"Parents are busy and there are a lot more demands on us when it becomes to preparing the lunch box," she told 9Honey.

"There are limitations on the foods themselves, on what can and can't be included. So not only does it have to be nude or it can't be an allergens (kids in schools can be allergic to egg and nuts).

The dietitian has partnered with Capilano Honey to address parent's concerns.

She says kids are fussier. "Particularly in the last decade, foods that were acceptable to take to school in the past are no longer being included."

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All these factors are creating anxieties for parents, she said.

"Parents are also worried about lunchboxes coming home empty, that kids are actually eating the foods being packed for them."

A recent consumer survey has shown that "nutritional anxiety" is at it's peak, with lunchbox shaming a regular occurrence on both social media and the school playground.

The findings include:

* Mums are still mostly responsible for family food;

* More dads are getting involved in preparing family food;

* Cost is a factor when it comes to healthy eating as is time and fussy eaters;

* Almost one in five parents have been made to feel guilty about the food they packed their child;

* Over half of all parents feel guilty for including treat foods.

When Save was a child she says she was given an orange and a Vegemite sandwich every day, or maybe a cheese, lettuce and Vegemite sandwich if she was lucky.

"I hated the orange," she said.

"My whole lunchbox stunk of orange and I never wanted to eat the orange or my sandwich because it stunk of orange."

She remembers getting a chocolate bar in her lunchbox occasionally but the orange even managed to ruin that.

"I couldn't eat the chocolate because it smelt like orange and to this day I can't eat orange chocolate," she said.

Fast-forward to today and Save as a three-year-old and a five-year-old.

While neither of them has started primary school, she does have to pack lunch for her five-year-old who attends Early Learning.

The dietitian says there's no such thing as an ideal lunch a parent can pack for a child.

"I don't really think there is an ideal lunchbox," she said. "I really think it's a compromise between packing something that the child will eat, and something that will reflect nutritional balance - protein, carbohydrate, fibre, wholegrains - from a health perspective."

School lunchbox anxiety peaks ahead of school returning next week. Image: Overboard, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Save suggests talking to your children about what they like and don't like.

"Most kids will have something out of that dairy group that they will eat, whether it will be yogurt or cheese," she said.

"When it comes to sandwiches, parents have the added stress of choosing a healthy bread but the truth is if they get the dark grain breads their children probably won't eat them, so it's better to get a bread they will eat.

"So it's all about finding that middle ground of what your child will accept."

She says at the end of the day, if they haven't eaten it, you haven't succeeded, regardless of how healthy it is.

To make it easier for parents when children return to school next week, Save suggests trying to include something from each of the food groups.

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"Try and include a piece of fruit - whatever fruit they will eat, something dairy, something with protein and something wholegrain.

"And when it comes to the sandwich, if you can get a real food filling, that is the best thing you can get into a sandwich."

Save also says it's okay to include treat foods in lunchboxes, as long as it's only 10 or 20 percent of the lunchbox.